


Fate Is Cruel

by RigorMorton



Category: Gorleska - Fandom, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, M/M, Male Slash, Older Man/Younger Man, Sneaking Around, Tumblr Prompt, horror movie talk, violence mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:19:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5134418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RigorMorton/pseuds/RigorMorton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a brilliant prompt I recently received on Tumblr. Original Prompt: what if Jim was still demoted and working at Arkham when Jerome was admitted - having to guard him and escort him to the showers, and obviously see him naked? Jerome being the little shit that he is, notices the effect it is having on Jim, so he starts to tease him. Jim denies and denies it until he can't take it anymore, so he has to find places for them to sneak away to in the asylum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I changed a few things. Instead of Jim already being at Arkham, when Jerome arrives, he gets demoted after Jerome is already in there. Hope I did well. Enjoy.

Jim Gordon had been dreading this day all week. Gotham's finest cop had been demoted to security guard at the notorious Arkham Asylum and today was his first day on the job. Ironically One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest had been on TV the night before, and Jim couldn't help but feel it was the universe giving him the finger.

He didn't understand what he had done to deserve this. He had been good his whole life. He was the most honest cop in the GCPD. Never took a bribe, never took the easy way out, and always did his best to protect the city he loved.

The only thing he could think of, that could possibly bring him any bad karma, would be the little indiscretion he had with a certain ginger haired teenager. It was nothing really major, just an attraction - a shared attraction between him and a young man named Jerome Valeska.

Jerome wasn't just any young man though. The boy had killed his abusive mother with a hatchet, and got locked away in Arkham after having what appeared to be a psychotic break. However Jim believed the boy was a sociopath and not a psychopath. The kid was a great actor - Oscar worthy if you will. He could easily fake insanity just to get out of prison. In spite of the detective's suspicions, Jerome managed to fool everyone else. 

Of course when he had first met Jerome, he was unaware that the kid was a sociopath and a killer. Although the detective still felt a little bit bad about having inappropriate thoughts about a guy almost twenty years younger than him - a guy who Jim was ninety percent certain was a virgin. So that alone was shameful, but what was even more shameful, was the fact that the older detective continued to have inappropriate thoughts, after he found out what the boy was.

Jim didn't understand how he could. He was better than that. His standards should be much higher. Jerome was the complete opposite of him. Maybe deep down inside the moral detective had a desire to be bad. To do something reckless and irresponsible for once. Was that stupid, little crush he had on Jerome, really so terrible that he deserved for his life to fall apart? Certainly not. This was just a temporary set back, and surely the good detective would earn his badge back, but not today. Today he would be forced to walk the halls of the looney bin known as Arkham, and Lord only knows what that was going to be like.

It was a bad sign when Jim had barely gotten two feet in the door and he could already hear the inmates hooping and hollering, as he walked down the hall to the warden's office. He stood outside, hesitant to knock, and begin what he was sure would be a grueling shift. The former detective let out a long sigh, and lightly knocked on the door to the warden's office.

"Come in." Jim heard a deep voice from the other side say. He opened the door, and peeked inside, seeing what appeared to be the warden's sitting at his desk.

"Jim Gordon?" The warden asked.

"Yes, sir." Jim replied with a fake smile as he stepped in all the way and shut the door behind him.

"Oh good. I've been expecting you. I'm warden Lang." The man stood up and extended his hand to Jim.

The detective smiled politely and shook the warden's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

Please, take a seat." Warden Lang pointed to the chair in front of his desk. 

"Thank you, sir" Jim smiled and both men sat down in their chairs.

"Now, Mr. Gordon, I wanted to talk to you about the important role you'll be playing here at Arkham."

Jim cocked an eyebrow up at the warden. "Important role? I thought I was just going to be a guard. Nothing special."

"You are going to be a guard Mr. Gordon, but not just any guard."

Jim squinted in confusion. "Go on."

"You see Mr. Gordon, we've been having trouble with one of the inmates and, we think it would be best if he had a personal guard. Not only for his protection, but for the protection, of the other inmates as well."

"Who are we talking about here? Hannibal Lector?" Jim snickered.

Warden Lang wasn't laughing though. He let out a sigh and leaned in on his desk, closer to the detective. "Not exactly, but he's definitely a high risk inmate. Very reckless and….just doesn't seem to be afraid of anything."

"Hmmm…so what exactly am I up against here?"

"Well, as of lately, we've been keeping him isolated from the general population. Not solitary. He has a regular size room and interaction with the guards. He eats in the cafeteria with the other inmates and goes out into the yard with them as well. You'll be escorting him during these times and he showers alone, but you'll have to take him to the shower to make sure he doesn't run off and hide in the asylum. He's tried it before."

"So let me get this straight…. You hired a guard - me, to personally escort this guy every where? What the hell did this guy do?"

"He had a confrontation with another inmate about a week ago. The other inmate made the mistake of knocking his lunch tray out of his hands, and ended up getting beaten within an inch of his life with his own shoes."

"Jesus…." Jim said as he ran his hand down over his face. "So who is this guy? Anybody I've heard of?"

"Actually, yes. You were the one who arrested him. Jerome Valeska."

Jim's eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open. He felt as if the room was spinning, and he could almost hear the theme from Psycho playing in the background as the reality sank in. 

"I….I can't guard Jerome Valeska. We have history."

The warden looked confused. "Yeah, you solved his mother's murder and put him away, but nobody else wants the job, and you're the new guy. The other guards have been here for years and they refuse. I don't have a choice."

What was Jim supposed to tell him? "No warden Lang, Jerome and I were flirting when we first met, and probably would've ended up in the sack had I never figured out he killed his mom." Jim knew he couldn't tell the warden that. He didn't have a leg to stand on. He either had to take the job, or do exactly what his former boss wanted him to do, and quit. He was fucked.

"This is the job we need you for. Take it or leave it, Mr. Gordon. What's it gonna be?"

Jim let out a heavy sigh and swallowed hard, meeting eyes with warden Lang. He nodded his head, reluctantly.

"Great, I'm glad we have an understanding. It's just about breakfast time, so I'll walk you down to his room, and you can escort him to the cafeteria."

Jim didn't say a word. He just stood up and followed warden Lang out into the hall.

"We're glad you're here, Mr. Gordon. We heard a lot of good things about you, and I'm certain you will do just fine."

Jim just gave the warden another fake smile, and followed him down a long hallway. The sound of rowdy inmates echoed through the halls and the detective had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't believe what he'd been reduced to. He didn't belong here with these….these animals. He belonged back at the GCPD, protecting the streets of Gotham, not escorting sociopathic teenage boys to breakfast. Now he was basically a glorified babysitter.

"Alright, Mr. Gordon…. This is Jerome's room." Warden Lang knocked on the door. "Mr. Valeska? Your new guard is here."

Jim peeked into the little window iof Jerome's room and saw the boy sitting at his desk, with his back turned to them. He seemed to be drawing something, and was paying zero attention to the Warden.

Lang reached down for his keychain and unlocked the door, motioning for Jim to come in. Jim gulped and stepped inside. He was dreading the reunion between him and the homicidal boy that had once haunted his dreams. The truth was, the detective knew the boy would be making passes at him every chance be got, and he was unsure of whether or not he would be strong enough to resist the beautiful bad boy, that was Jerome.

"Mr. Valeska? Don't be rude. As it turns out, you and your new guard have some history."

The boy stopped drawing, dropped his pencil, and slowly turned to look over his shoulder at the warden and Jim. As soon as Jerome made eye contact with the older detective, his eyes widened, and that devilish grin he was notorious for, slowly crept its way across his handsome, freckled face.

"Jimbo…..well I'll be damned……."


	2. Whatever You Do...Don't Talk To It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim escorts Jerome to lunch, and the two end up actually hitting it off, much to the detective's chagrin.

Jim sat at the table across from the kid - completely unenthused, watching the kid eat his bologna sandwich. The former detective hadn't been guarding the kid for five hours, and he was already regretting showing up for work this morning. This was such a bullshit assignment. Seriously, what are the odds that he'd be demoted to security guard at Arkham, and be assigned to be the personal guard for the kid, he helped put away - the kid that he had, had an inappropriate flirtation with and maybe a few inappropriate thoughts about, before he realized the kid killed his mother. Fate is cruel.

This whole thing was absurd. Of course Jerome couldn't be happier about this arrangement. He'd set his sights on the older detective, the instant he laid eyes on him. Jim was your typical dreamboat - handsome, well mannered, and charming - the complete opposite of Jerome, but that's why the boy liked Him so much. Winning the detective's affections would be quite a challenge - a challenge, Jerome was up for.

"Why aren't you eating Jimbo?" Jerome asked, staring down at the brown paper bag the older man had in front of him.

"I'm not hungry."

"Jimmy, it kind of hurts my feelings that you find this arrangement so revolting."

Jim smirked up at the kid, across from him. "Well, if you had feelings, I might believe that."

"I do to have feelings. You underestimate me, Jimmy. You don't have to take this out on me. This wasn't my idea. We could at least try to get along." The boy pouted, looking down at his tray.

Jim just rolled his eyes and took a swig of the carton of "fruit punch" he got from the cafeteria. He wasn't going to let that boy manipulate him. The detective was bound and determined to keep his guard up, and not let Jerome under his skin. Although he'd be kidding himself, if he said he wasn't the least bit tempted to use this arrangement as a perfect excuse to get close to the kid he'd been attracted to, for months.

An opportunity was being handed to Jim, on a silver platter, but of course that pesky angel on his shoulder, made him feel this need to resist at all costs. The goal was to get out of this assignment, without, giving in to the persuasive and tempting teen. 

"Don't pout at me, kid. I'm just here to do my job, not make friends. However, I do agree we should try and get along though." Jim gave a half assed smile, and pulled his roast beef sandwich out of his paper bag. Jerome smiled just a bit when he saw the detective had gotten his appetite back. 

"You know, Jimmy…" Jerome started as he leaned in closer to the detective - elbows on the table - chin resting on his hands. "I forgot to tell you, how handsome you look in that guard uniform." Jim stopped chewing and looked up from his sandwich at the starry eyed ginger. "What about me, huh? You gotta admit, I'm pulling these stripes off quite nicely" Jerome said, grinning wide and tugging at his jumpsuit.

Jim couldn't help but smile and chuckle just a bit at that last remark. God, he was adorable. "See, this is why in every demonic possession movie you see, the exorcist, always tells everyone in the room… Whatever you do…don't talk to it."

The boy laughed and banged his hand on the table. "Jimbo….did you just compare me to a demonic entity?" The kid let out another cackle. "Oh Jimmy, thank you. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

Jim just shook his head and smiled. Oh, boy…. This kid was already turning into a handful and it was only the former detective's first day. The boy was more charming and charismatic than the older man realized. He knew right there that he was in way over his head. He was doing the one thing, you're not supposed to. He was talking to it, and by doing so, he was enabling the kid - allowing him into his life - into his head. Not a great idea.

"I suddenly have a hankering to watch The Exorcist now. Greatest horror film ever."

Jim shook his head. "It is great, yes….but the greatest horror movie ever, is John Carpenter's The Thing."

A pleased grin, spread across the young boy's face. "Jimmy, I'm impressed. I didn't take you for a horror guy."

"What are you kidding? Horror's the best kind."

"Greatest horror movie, death?"

Jim put his sandwich down and wiped his hands on his napkin. "Easy… the 1988 remake of The Blob. That scene in the diner when the cook is trying to unclog the sink, and all of the sudden the blob takes the form of a hand, grabs him by the face and yanks his entire body down the drain."

Jerome's eyes grew wide with delight. "Oh my God, yes! And then the pipe starts bursting and blood is squirting out everywhere, and his feet are dangling up in the air all bloody and spasming."

"And that lady that owns the diner is flipping out and screaming bloody murder." Jim chuckled. "Oh, man I was eleven when that hit theaters and me and my best friend Patrick snuck out to see it. One of the greatest memories of my childhood. And boy, I fell in love with Shawnee Smith."

"Oh, yeah." Jerome stood up from his seat and high fived the older man. "And she still looks good. Damn."

"Agreed. So how about you…favorite horror movie death?"

"That's a tough one, but I think I'd have to go with Zep Hindle's death in the first Saw. I know it's not the bloodiest or most gruesome, but there was just something so powerful about that scene. Like, you think Adam's dead, but then he sits up and attacks Zep, pulling him down to the floor before grabbing the tank lid of the toilet and bashing his face in with it - so hard, and so many times that Lawrence; who had just sawed off his own foot, mind you, feels the need to crawl over there, and stop him, and the lid ends up crumbling in Adam's hands. Just…a powerful and moving scene. So powerful, it's almost arousing."

Jim gulped, nervously, listening to the boy describe that violent and disturbing scene in such graphic detail. It was chilling, but not exactly in a bad way. Jim realized the boy was right. Even though it wasn't the goriest death in movie history, by a long shot, there was something about it that was gripping. The music, the atmosphere, and how powerful the will to survive was. The detective was impressed, and now he kind of wanted to watch Saw.

"Wow….that's a good one. I'm impressed, kid." Jim raised his juice carton up and tipped his head to the boy.

It was only his first day, and he already felt himself starting to like the kid. That was not a good sign. This kid was nothing but trouble, and Jim knew it, yet he still managed to allow himself to get sucked into the boy's trap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned guys. Smut is coming. I'm trying to have them form a friendship first. It'll be more rewarding when they finally give in ;)

**Author's Note:**

> This is only the beginning. The good stuff is coming. Stay tuned. If you like this pairing, follow my Gorleska blog on Tumblr. gorleska.tumblr.com


End file.
